Do you have the home insurance you need? The answer may not be as straightforward as you think. This case serves as a cautionary tale …

My nomination for the worst neighbour of the year, and maybe the decade, goes to Troy Gluppe whose neglect of his own house caused his neighbour’s bungalow to collapse – resulting in damages of more than $500,000.

Sam Warren and Troy Gluppe own adjacent properties on County Road 28 in Prince Edward County near Belleville. In the spring of 2016 Warren noticed water pooling along the property line between the two houses. The water was coming from Gluppe’s sump pump line and draining in the area between the houses.

n addition to the pooling water, Warren noticed foul odours coming from his neighbour’s septic system and/or leaching bed. The local health department confirmed the presence of E. coli and coliform.

Moisture damage to the house became apparent in December 2016. The pipes froze, the TV fell off the wall and shattered, and the walls started to separate from the doors, windows, ceilings and floors. The floors were no longer level – marbles released onto the floor rolled to the north-east corner of the house.

A misdirected eavestrough was also contributing to the water damage. Gluppe installed a pipe in the eavestrough to direct the water away from the Warren house and secured it with duct tape.

Unfortunately, the redirected water could not flow uphill, and only added to the problem. It was obvious that Warren’s house had begun to collapse because the foundations were compromised by water damage.

Gluppe failed to remediate the issues. Without insurance he could not afford to fix the problems. The county ordered him to dig a trench to redirect the water, but it was unsuccessful.

Facing significant damage to the house by December 2016, Warren sued Gluppe. The damage only got worse in the incredible seven years it took for the case to get to trial.

Warren continued to live in the house annually from May to October but had to move elsewhere in the winters.

By January 2023 the standing water was still in the same spot and the area along the property line remained saturated. An engineer advised Warren that the house was unsafe to live in and he stopped living there.

The parties finally faced off in a Kingston courtroom over eight days last September. After hearing evidence from both parties as well as a civil engineering expert, Justice Narissa Somji ruled in favour of Warren. She awarded him $487,211 for the replacement cost of the house, plus expenses, for a total of $505,354.

Justice Somji also awarded Warren costs of $100,000 against Gluppe based partly on the fact that in 2017 Gluppe turned down an offer to settle for $175,000.

“Neighbours,” she wrote, “owe a duty of care to each other not to use their respective properties in a way that would pose a foreseeable risk to another’s property and cause it damage.”

The case emphasizes the importance of having home insurance – not only for your own property but for damage caused to others.

Warren v. Gluppe, 2023 ONSC 6301 (CanLII), https://canlii.ca/t/k1261